Avgolemono Soup (Greek Lemon Chicken & Rice Soup)
120 Comments
Updated Apr 03, 2023
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If you love a good chicken and rice combo, this Greek Avgolemono soup is always a winner. Shredded chicken, rice, and a few simple vegetables are stirred into a silky smooth lemon-and-egg broth for a cozy balanced meal.
So, What’s Avgolemono Anyways?
If you’ve never had Avgolemono before, it’s a smooth Greek sauce made from an egg, lemon, and broth mixture. It’s often spooned on a variety of cooked vegetables and meats, but the taste of it in soup form really hits the spot for Grecian-style comfort food.
Now, I’m fully aware that I may be biased towards this recipe, given how much I love dishes with a Mediterranean flair (hence my one pan chicken and rice, Greek sheet pan chicken, or Greek chicken kabobs)… but I’m confident you’re going to love it too. And make it repeatedly during soup season. Because what’s a better feeling than cozying up with a big, hearty bowl of chicken soup?
Here’s the Ingredients You’ll Need
The ingredients are fairly simple, although, I will say I created a small shortcut. Instead of cooking a whole chicken from scratch to create the shredded chicken and broth, I’m using a rotisserie chicken and boxed chicken broth. I’m also using pre-cooked white rice.
Is this an authentic avgolemono soup? Technically, no, but it follows the same concept, with very similar results and flavor. You know me – I’m all for simplifying things as much as I can for a seamless (and easy!) cooking experience. Here’s what you’ll need:
- Vegetables: All you need are onions and celery to accompany the chicken in this soup. But for more ideas on other veggies to add, I’ve got some recommendations below.
- Chicken: There’s a few ways to go about this – you can make my shredded chicken recipe with chicken breasts, you can make my slow cooker whole chicken, or you can shred a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken from the market (which is how I’m doing it today).
- Chicken Broth: If you cooked a whole chicken, you’ll use the same broth. But if you’re making it with a store-bought bird, grab your favorite low-sodium chicken broth.
- Eggs: Only two large eggs are needed to balance out the lemon ratio.
- Lemons: Freshly squeezed lemon juice is needed here – no bottled versions!
- Rice: Stick to short grain white rice such as arborio for a fluffier consistency that aligns with the soup’s creamy texture. And if you don’t have a rice cooker, I’ve got a full video on how to cook rice in a pot. I recommend making the rice a day or two before (meal prep it!) so you can whip up this recipe super fast during the week.
- Herbs: All you need is fresh dill or parsley to sprinkle on top, or stirred into the soup!
Find the printable recipe with measurements below.
How to Make Avgolemono Soup (the Easy Way)
While there’s many variations on the classic Avgolemono soup, I’m going to show you a quick and easy version, that leverages a little meal prep, so that you can get this nourishing and hearty soup on the table fast. Aka – it’s an easy weeknight meal!
Cook the vegetables. Saute the onion and celery in a large pan with oil for 3 to 4 minutes, until they’re slightly softened.
Add the broth. Then season with salt and pepper, and bring it to a simmer.
Make the Avgolemono sauce. Traditionally, you’d whisk the eggs and lemon juice separately by hand, then temper the eggs with ladles full of simmering broth, while continuously whisking.
But if you’ve got a high powered blender, I’ll show you how to get the same creamy consistency – fast! Just blend the eggs, lemon juice, and ¼ cup of the rice for about 20 seconds. Then while blending, slowly stream 2 ladles full of hot broth from the saucepan to temper the eggs. This method is foolproof and it won’t curdle when you add it back to the pot! You can see how I do it on the video below.
Combine everything together. Stir the lemon-egg mixture into the lightly simmering stock, along with the rice and chicken. Let it keep cooking for another 5 to 10 minutes, until the chicken and rice is warmed through. Once that’s done, garnish with freshly chopped dill and you’re ready to serve!
Pro tip: A classic Avgolemono soup is quite full-bodied! If you’d like a thinner, more brothy soup, just add another cup or two of chicken broth. You’ll also get an extra serving that way!
A Few Tips to Tweak This Lemon Chicken and Rice Soup
- Add more vegetables: You can stir in some baby spinach or arugula at the very end for a greens-boost!
- Add more herbs: In this recipe, I only sprinkle the chopped dill on top for garnish. But you can also chop up some more herbs to stir into the soup.
Storage Options
- To store: Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 to 4 days.
- To freeze: Pour the soup into a freezer-safe container or silicone soup tray (like my favorite Souper Cubes). It will keep for up to 3 months in the freezer.
- For reheating: Whether you’re reheating from the fridge or freezer, make sure to do it on medium-low heat. You can reheat in the microwave (for a single serving), or a bigger quantity in a pot on the stovetop. You may need to add more broth or water to thin it down when reheating.
Avgolemono Soup Recipe Video
Before you dive into tempering the eggs, give the below video a watch to make sure you don’t run into any complications!
More Easy, Comforting Soup Recipes
Although this Avgolemono soup will become a weeknight staple, I’ve got a few more soup recipes that are surely runner ups. Here’s a glimpse of some favorites below!
- Roasted Butternut Squash Soup
- Best Lentil Soup
- Cabbage Soup
- Potato Leek Soup
- Split Pea Soup
- Poached Chicken and Vegetable Soup
If you love to weave Mediterranean recipes into your routine, make sure to keep this Avgolemono soup in mind come fall and winter! And once you make it, let me know how you liked it in a comment below.
Avgolemono Soup (Greek Lemon Chicken & Rice Soup)
Description
Video
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 small onion, diced
- 2 celery rib, chopped
- 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 2 large eggs
- ¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (from about 1 to 2 lemons)
- 1 ½ cup cooked white rice
- 2 cups shredded chicken
- chopped fresh dill for garnish
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and celery and saute for 3 to 4 minutes, until softened.
- Add the broth, season with salt and pepper, and bring to a simmer.
- In a blender, add the eggs, lemon juice, and ¼ cup of the rice. Blend until smooth, about 20 seconds. Then while blending, slowly stream 2 ladles full of hot broth from the saucepan to temper the eggs.
- Stir the lemon egg puree into the lightly simmering stock along with the rice and chicken, until slightly thickened, about 5 to 10 minutes. Do not boil the soup as it can cause the egg mixture to curdle.
- Garnish with dill before serving.
Nutrition
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Instead of rice, I used Orzo. I never used onion or celery in my recipe, but it was a nice add-in. It was absolutely delicious!
Thank you!
Happy you loved it!
I made it yesterday, so good. Easy to make.
Hi Alison – Happy to hear this Avgolemono soup was a hit!
It’s cold and rainy up in NorCal, the family has been fighting a cold. Instead of traditional chicken soup, I made this for them. It is so easy to make, so delicious, and most of all so satisfying on a cold night. If you haven’t made this, now is the time.
Hi Chris – This Avgolemono soup always hits the spot on a rainy day!
Delicious! This serves four. Substituted rice for cauli rice.
Hi there – I’m glad this Avgolemono soup worked out great with cauliflower rice instead!
Just made this and loved it! Thank you :)
Wonderful! I’m glad you enjoyed it.
I would give this 1000 stars if I could! I’d never made an avgolemono soup but after making it the first time, I was instantly obsessed. It’s so yummy, creamy (without cream!) plus comforting. I’ve made it for others and it always get high praise – THE BEST EVER, WHAT A HIT, OMG, FANTASTIC and of course, MAY I HAVE THE RECIPE? Thank you very much for this heavenly recipe!
Oh wow, I love to hear all those rave reviews! Thanks so much, Suzie!
This is my favorite soup – ever! Thank you for sharing it! It’s very delicious, with delicate flavor that you can make more intense and lemony, or dial it down and make it closer to regular “chicken soup.” I love lemon, so I go heavy on it!
Yay, I’m happy it’s your favorite! And I agree, I’m all for the extra lemon flavor as well. Enjoy!
I love this recipe!! My grandfather was Greek and this delicious soup brings back memories of some of his dishes. Thank you, Lisa! Also thank you for your cookbook. My granddaughter & I each have a copy —- so good! (Beautiful pictures too!!)
Thanks so much, Jane! I’m happy you loved this recipe and that it brought back fond memories for you. I’m also happy you love my cookbook, yay!
This soup is SO deliciously unexpected, and pretty easy to make! I don’t have a blender I can stream liquid into while it’s running, so I used my immersion blender and it worked perfectly. I could eat this soup every week for the rest of my life!
Yay, I’m so happy you loved it, Kristin! It really is one of those “regular rotation” kind of soups. Enjoy!
My husband and I have made dozens of your recipes and they never miss! You are our go-to recipe site. This is one of our favorites, it turns out perfect every time. Making it tonight to combat the start of cold season. Thank you for sharing all of your wonderful recipes!
Thrilled to hear you and your husband have been enjoying so many recipes, including this Avgolemono soup!
Super easy. Added about double the lemon juice. Tried both parsley & dill, definitely prefer the parsley
Thanks for leaving a review and glad you enjoyed this Avgolemono soup!
Did not make your exact recipe. Added some changes. Whole Chicken which has skin removed, boiled until tender with celery and white parts of leek and some carrots. Removed Chicken from pot, strained vegies and set aside. The rest is pretty much the same, though in our family the eggs were separated and the whites were betted fluffy and the yolks were added along with lemon juice. Tempering process the same.
Glad this soup turned out great with your small changes!
Delicious and so easy to make! I used Costco “pulled chicken” in a bag to make this even easier. I’ve never tempered eggs before (or knew it was a thing) but the soup turned out perfect – I didn’t accidentally make egg drop soup. Didn’t need the suggestions for storing leftovers – what leftovers?
Haha, yeah, leftovers are sometimes hard to come by. ;) Congrats on making a perfect batch of avgolemono soup!
My tween loves lemons but not soup, so I thought we would try this. She loved it! I was worried about tempering the eggs, but following the directions made it turn out perfect. Thank you for sharing this!
I’m glad you had success with this recipe and that your daughter loved it as well!
I’ve made this several times now. It’s so tasty, filling, and satisfying. Thanks, Lisa!
Happy to hear this has been a hit every single time Nicole!
Super delicious, filling and wholesome. I loved the trick with the blender.